August 9, 2022
The Religious Right-Wingers Working to Run Ohio
By Lisa Herforth-Hebbert
Republican legislators in the Buckeye State have introduced multiple bills to curtail civil rights with the help of the Center for Christian Virtue.
By Zurie Pope
Over the past few months, Republicans in statehouses across the country have been working diligently to curtail their constituents’ civil rights. After Florida’s infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in March, public school teachers have been banned from discussing sexual orientation and gender in the classroom unless it is deemed “age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” One school district reportedly warned teachers not to wear rainbow-colored clothing.
While multiple civil rights groups have filed lawsuits to block the law, legislators in the Buckeye State have introduced copycat bills to replicate these right-wing restrictions in Ohio. House Bill 616, for example, discourages “divisive” conversations about racism, white supremacy, and LGBTQ issues. As homophobic and transphobic rhetoric becomes more common among Republican officials—and attempted attacks by groups like Patriot Front increase—House Bill 454 would also prohibit gender-affirming medical care for transgender teens.
Unsurprisingly, these bills have horrified many in the state—particularly young people and marginalized groups who would be affected by the proposed legislation. In early July, local chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Central Ohio Revolutionary Socialists, and the Cincinnati Socialists held a protest of around 100 people outside the Ohio Statehouse.
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